Bubblets is shareware that expires in 15
days
Registered copies are US$15

The Pocket PC's higher-resolution graphics, color, and sound should lend themselves
well to gaming applications and would appear to give it a bit of an advantage
over the Palm OS. Problem is, just like PPC programs in general, there just
isn't a lot of good games out there for the PPC. This may change as/if more
developers sign on to the platform. For the time being, though, the selection
in the Microsoft Café is pretty thin compared to Palm and EPOC.

Some of the selections are glorious, though, including oopdreams' (don't ask
me where the name comes from) Bubblets. Bubblets is a "same game"-type
program, like the Cascade game which comes with the Psion Revo Plus/Diamond
Mako. The object of the game is to pop as many bubblets as possible, with the
goal being to clear the board. You can only pop bubblets that are the same color
and contiguous with each other. The more that touch, the higher the score. Strategically,
you want to scan the board to set yourself up so the same color bubblets on
the board will eventually touch one another so you can pop them and score big.
It's a lot simpler than it sounds, but that's what makes it fun.

Bubblets is a much more refined game than Cascade. For one thing, the play
area is larger:

And, of course, it's in glorious color. The 3D quality of the bubbles is pretty
well rendered. You have the option to select grayscale bubbles,

but these are pretty gloomy compared to the eye candy quality of the color
bubbles.

I thought the sound, at least on the iPAQ, was pretty good, especially through
headphones. Some of the effects are a little cutesy, like the High
Score sound, but I guess this is in keeping with the bubbly nature
of the game ...

Skill-wise, this is a tough game, much harder than Cascade. You have several
options available for gameplay.

In the Standard
mode, the bubbles drop as the ones beneath them are removed--a one-dimensional
mode, if you will. As you complete a column, the remaining ones to the left
shift.

The Continuous
mode adds a twist, allowing you to play for as long as you can keep the game
going. As you complete a column, the remaining ones shift and a new column is
added. A preview of the row to be added, like in Tetris, appears at the bottom
of the screen (the top of the column is on the right.)

A third mode, called Shifter,
operates like the Standard
mode, except that the top of the stack shifts immediately after the bubbles
next to it drop.

Last and most challenging is the MegaShift
mode, which is pretty much "all of the above." You really have to
play it to experience it.

I would have delivered this review to Geek.com sooner, except I was having
too much fun! This game's pretty addictive. Everyone who's gotten a hold of
my iPAQ, which I think has been handled more than the presidential candidates,
has had a ball, and I've had to wrestle it back from them.

Ratings Defense
Even though Bubblets is a simple concept, it's really well executed and polished.
5 Geekheads for Quality. For Geekness, 5 Geekheads are awarded, too.

The "same game" concept isn't super special, but the program makes
up for the run-of-the-mill concept with some nice twists which take it out of
the ordinary, like the MegaShift
option. Would I buy it? Yes. Is the pricing reasonable? Yes. Is it a "must-have"
program? Yup. Is it a Geek.com
Pick? You bet. oopdreams has a version available for Palm, too, so you
might want to check that out.